1. Field of the Disclosure
The present invention relates generally to processes for manufacturing printed circuit board components and more particularly to a screening process for manufacturing a Z-directed component for a printed circuit board.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following co-pending United States patent applications and issued patents, which are assigned to the assignee of the present application, describe various “Z-directed”components that are intended to be embedded or inserted into a printed circuit board (“PCB”): Ser. No. 12/508,131 entitled “Z-Directed Components for Printed Circuit Boards,”U.S. Pat. No. 8,198,547 entitled “Z-Directed Pass-Through Components for Printed Circuit Boards,” U.S. Pat. No. 8,198,548 entitled “Z-Directed Capacitor Components for Printed Circuit Boards,” U.S. Pat. No. 8,735,734 entitled “Z-Directed Delay Line Components for Printed Circuit Boards,” U.S. Pat. No. 8,237,061 entitled “Z-Directed Filter Components for Printed Circuit Boards,” Ser. No. 12/508,204 entitled “Z-Directed Ferrite Bead Components for Printed Circuit Boards,”Ser. No. 12/508,215 entitled “Z-Directed Switch Components for Printed Circuit Boards,”U.S. Pat. No. 8,273,996 entitled “Z-Directed Connector Components for Printed Circuit Boards,” and U.S. Pat. No. 8,278,568 entitled “Z-Directed Variable Value Components for Printed Circuit Boards.”
As densities of components for printed circuit boards have increased and higher frequencies of operation are used, some circuits' designs have become very difficult to achieve. The Z-directed components described in the foregoing patent applications are designed to improve the component densities and frequencies of operation. The Z-directed components occupy less space on the surface of a PCB and for high frequency circuits, e.g. clock rates greater than 1 GHz, allow for higher frequency of operation. The foregoing patent applications describe various types of Z-directed components including, but not limited to, capacitors, delay lines, transistors, switches, and connectors. A process that permits mass production of these components on a commercial scale is desired.